have the world by the tail
have the world by the tail verb: to possess great influence and opportunity.
Verb
have the world by the tail (third-person singular simple present has the world by the tail, present participle having the world by the tail, simple past and past participle had the world by the tail)
- To possess great influence and opportunity.
- "Webb thinks he's got the world by the tail for a downhill pull. I'll show him."1919, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 15, in A Man Four-Square
- No nation had the World by the tail this week, but the rear end of the British lion was within measurable distance of Adolf Hitler's grasp.1938 February 28, “Give Us Colonies!!”, in Time, retrieved 07 Aug 2013
Forms of have the world by the tail
| third-person singular present | has the world by the tail |
|---|---|
| present participle | having the world by the tail |
| past participle | had the world by the tail |
| past | had the world by the tail |
| alternative form | have the world by the bag |
| alternative form | have the world by the balls |
| alternative form | have the world by the neck |
| alternative form | have the world by the nuts |
| alternative form | have the world by the testicles |
| alternative form | have the world on a string |
| alternative form | have the world by the tail on a downhill pull |
Questions about have the world by the tail
- What does have the world by the tail mean?
- Have the world by the tail means to possess great influence and opportunity.
- What part of speech is have the world by the tail?
- Have the world by the tail is a verb.
- What is the past tense of have the world by the tail?
- The past tense of have the world by the tail is had the world by the tail.
Words near have the world by the tail in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: have the world by the tail (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-have the world by the tail.ogg.
Cite this entry: “have the world by the tail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/have_the_world_by_the_tail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.